CHAPTER 535: CHAPTER 229: A SWORD ACROSS THE AGES (FIRST UPDATE)

Xu Qing took out the Weiyang Sword, and with Su Lianqing and other close confidants, arrived at a section of silted river channel.

This place was one of the nine seals that Yu King used to suppress the Ancient Water Demon. Over thousands of years, the Yellow River frequently changed courses, so this seal is currently not in the Yellow River’s course but in the canal section of Qingzhou.

Within Xu Qing’s body, the black energy from the Qi Fortune Minor Dragon became increasingly dense, indicating a certain degree of risk in this operation.

He felt at ease in his heart.

He first ordered the dredging boats to perform dredging, exposing the seal at the bottom.

The dredging boat had various tools.

Because the silt was relatively thick at the moment, they first used a tool called the "Jun River Rake", which was actually similar to Marshal of the Heavenly Canopy’s nine-tooth rake from Journey to the West.

Evidently, the creation of the Journey to the West novel also referenced this river dredging tool, hence equipping the Marshal of the Heavenly Canopy, who manages the Heavenly River Water Army, with a rake as a weapon.

The Jun River Rake used huge pulleys to drag, stirring up the silt in the river.

Then came the sand-dredging ship modified by Fang Immortal Dao disciples brought by Master Gu on behalf of the Ministry of Industry.

This ship was quite extraordinary, powered by a soul stone Daoist mechanism, and even equipped with iron gears specially refined by Fang Immortal Dao.

Truth be told, Fang Immortal Dao has many powerful materials, but they require a strong Dao Skill expert to meticulously refine them, which is extremely time-consuming and labor-intensive. With that effort, it would be better to directly refine a Magic Artifact.

Ultimately, the issue was the lack of soul stones. Once something requires manpower, it inevitably lacks efficiency and can’t be used on a large scale.

Xu Qing had a soul stone vein in Jiangning Prefecture, so naturally, he had some soul stones on hand, more than enough to operate this specially designed Daoist mechanism sand-dredging ship.

The officials and citizens watched in the distance, thinking this spectacle was a divine act.

Many citizens subconsciously began to bow in worship.

Some scholars also felt a deep fear towards Xu Qing and the Great Yu Court.

Legends tell of the Ancient Holy Dynasty, where Saints and the Saint Emperor transformed the world, allowing people to live better lives. The tools they used were presumably similar to the miraculous mechanisms Xu Qing employed.

The river sand dredged wouldn’t be wasted either; it would be used to research cement.

In the future, cement factories could even be established along frequently silted canals to process the dredged river sand.

This could form a complete industrial chain.

With profits to be made, both officials and citizens would be motivated to act.

These ideas are currently quite abstract.

During actual implementation, there are bound to be many challenges to overcome.

As the Saint said, small streams make great rivers.

Doing things has to start from the little things.

The most important role of Xu Qing is to sow the seeds, provide rain and sunshine, and guide their growth.

There’s visible profit in these matters.

Even if Xu Qing were to unfortunately die, driven by the pursuit of profit, someone would surely continue trying.

There are many difficult things in this world, but the most challenging always involves making money.

So with money to be made, the chance of political policies dying out with their creators diminishes significantly.

The bustle of the world is all for profit, the hustle of the world is all for gain.

With the canal dredged, officials who previously opposed Xu Qing now felt a sincere joy.

It was a sense of accomplishment, coupled with hope for the future.

As the canal opened, commerce would follow, and these officials could benefit from it.

Previously, resistance was mainly because they couldn’t profit.

Now they looked forward because they could foresee continued profits in the future.

The citizens likewise anticipated eagerly.

They depended more on the canal for their livelihood than officials did.

With new hopes, who would care about the previously slain nobles?

Moreover, Xu Liushou was already dividing land among many citizens.

Certainly, there’s much saline-alkali land around the canals, but there are still plenty of arable lands not affected by canal flooding, or some mines and the like...

Now that land has been divided, mergers and acquisitions will eventually happen again in the future.

But the process of consolidation is long, and in the meantime, resources circulate, continuing to bring vitality to the populace.

The people of the Great Yu Dynasty won’t learn from history, but history will still progress through its twists and turns.

The population during the Middle Ages was only about thirty percent of today’s Great Yu Dynasty population.

From this, it’s clear that despite wars and dynastic rises and falls, the population on this land continues to grow.

This also indicates that the Great Yu Dynasty’s utilization and development of resources surpass that of previous dynasties overall.

Looking at both the past and present, the present is generally better than the past.

Many people of the Great Yu Dynasty nostalgically long for certain qualities of past eras, but most are unwilling to live in the past given the same conditions.

However, Xu Qing told the Recovery Society members to absorb the good of the past to make up for the deficiencies of the present. Not progressing is indeed falling behind.

Internally, he hoped that the Recovery Society members could always lead the way.

Falling behind is terrifying.

Lose one’s position, lose one’s power, and without these, can wealth, land, mansions, descendants be preserved?

This is a very real issue.

Since the Middle Ages, countless aristocratic families have crumbled into dust.

Those that survived all chose to advance with the times.

Of course, Xu Qing also discussed the Middle Ages clan system with Recovery Society members. Within the clans, there was relative closure, preventing advancement by those outside.

But in reality, the more severe the oppression, the more terrifying the resistance.

Not giving others a way out is also not leaving oneself a retreat.